Legion Paths, Endless Leaves
by EmilyHarmonia
Summary: After traveling away from home, an abrupt change in plans makes Ritsu mayor of the new town. She soon has to learn to take care of it all while being met with new faces and challenges, struggling to fulfill everyone's requests and still make the right decisions for herself and the town.


**I started writing this fic for my sister as a Christmas present because she really, really loves Animal Crossing.**

**~Merry Christmas Savannah ^_^ スキ ダ ヨ~**

**…As for everyone who's reading this, expect multiple chapters going up soon. **

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><p>Chapter 1. Distracted<p>

Like clockwork that I knew almost too well, the day was there to greet me the same as always after the dream fizzled away. It was the same dream that I always had, and I was quick to note so. Trying to remember the broken fragments of the place from my sleep, I re-closed my eyes.

I faintly heard the sounds of sizzling, then pots and pans clinking from downstairs, so I figured Mom must've been cooking breakfast. Even louder than that were the intermittent notes of a mini Lullaboid mixed with the chirping birds outside of our house. I relaxed for a moment and listened, focusing on the sounds and smells outside of my darkened vision. The rays of sun peeked through the blackness I was staring into, even while my eyes were closed, so I gathered my thoughts that had started racing upon waking up, stretched, yawned, and rolled over across the bed.

Too far over.

"Hng-!" My eyes shot open and I probably made the stupidest face as I hit the rug with my stomach. The thud was loud enough in my ears that I was fully alert, now. I grumbled a little as I pulled myself up and went back to the bed to sit.

Calming down again, I breathed in the cool autumn air coming in from the ajar window and closed my eyes. The mixed scents of frying apples and pears and pancakes were beginning to drift upstairs by now. _Mom makes the most delicious breakfast_… Now I was really starting to get hungry, so I was quick to get dressed and wash my face and hands, nearly stumbling over my own feet as I ran downstairs.

I slowed down as I made my way into the kitchen, trying to tame my frizzy hair as I walked. It always ended up like this overnight, but neither Mom nor I knew how to fix it correctly. I had heard of several towns that had their own salons run by an excellent hairdresser, and I had been jealous, being the one who usually ended up just pulling a hat or plain headband over her head in a hurry.

"Morning, Ri-Ri!" Mom sung cheerily the moment I was in the room. She was wearing her favorite gingham apron over a cloudy tee and chino pants, her brown hair decorated with a moon pin. Her outfit sort of reminded me of the Able Sisters, a couple of hedgehogs that I had seen in our town a few times.

"G'morning, Mom." The reply was kind of automatic as I turned my attention to the frying pan that Mom was holding over the stove. In it were several slices of sizzling apples and pears, drenched in some sort of sugary cinnamon sauce. On the counter next to the stove was a large plate of plain pancakes that still appeared to be fresh out of the pan. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of the sweet foods and realizing that I wanted to eat them right then.

"The fruit will be done in a minute, but you can take a pancake right now," Mom added. "Syrup's on the table."

I nodded, grabbing a plate and putting a couple of pancakes on it before getting the milk carton out of the fridge.

"Oh, and your friend Haruo is here, honey."

I paused for a few seconds, then did a slow 360 in search of him, when finally, I spotted my best friend sitting at the kitchen table.

"Haruo…!?"

"Hey, Ritsu." Haruo had his usual little smile on when I saw him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Your mom let me in." Pleased with himself, he brushed his dark blue hair back and rocked back in his seat. "Sit down."

I obliged, placing my plate on the table before I scooted a chair back and took my seat. I nearly drenched the pancakes in syrup and took a few bites idly, thoughts still running through my head like mad.

We sat in silence like this for something like a minute, Haruo not even touching the pancake in front of him as I nearly scarfed mine down, trying to avoid getting syrup in my hair or on my clothes. The sizzling from the food on the stove stopped and a few moments later Mom walked over to us, holding a plate of the fruit she'd cooked. It was fried and barely recognizable, covered in cinnamon sauce. She put some on each of our plates, set a glass of milk down by my plate, then returned to the kitchen for a moment before she sat down with her own food.

Haruo only began eating once Mom did. He could be a real gentleman sometimes; of course, he was always helpful to anybody, and that was a good trait to have in a friend. Another thing about him, though, was that he usually teased me a lot, which was pretty funny but also got frustrating on occasion. I looked at Haruo, who was busy trying to get a pear slice on his fork, then went back to my food, lost in thought.

He might've seen the focus on my face to some degree; that, or he was psychic.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

I froze, at both the broken silence and the actual question, then my thoughts started racing again. Nervous? Nervous. No, not really. Maybe? Was I supposed to be? I tried to dig deep for an honest answer.

"I dunno."

Excellent.

Haruo blinked. "You don't know whether you're nervous or not?"

I tried to think of a decent answer quickly. "W-well, I…" Stuttering pause. "I'm… I just…" _Crap._ "I-I'm probably…" I exhaled. "Okay, well… I guess I'm just not sure how to feel."

"Oh." I could see the faint concern on his face at my answer.

"I guess I should be nervous, though. I mean, I've never even seen this town firsthand before," I continued, poking the food in front of me around with my fork.

"But you've seen it in books; and you've had your eye on the place for the longest time," Haruo reassured, sitting up straighter and taking another bite of food.

"True."

Mom smiled at both of us. "Oh, I'm sure it'll be great in the new town, Ritsu! And Haruo and I can still visit you anytime we want, of course! Right, Haruo?"

I saw a nod from him in response, getting the tiniest sinking feeling when I remembered the fact that I wouldn't be living with Mom or near Haruo anymore.

"Are you feeling alright, Ri-Ri?" Mom asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking a lot about all this," I almost mumbled.

"…'This'?"

I laid my arms out in front of me and tried to sit up a little. "Yeah. I have to pack, still…but at least I've already found my TPC. I guess that's it, but I keep thinking of tomorrow. I can't believe I'm going to Hakage in less than forty-eight hours."

"Ooh, Hakage! Sounds like a lovely town," Mom raved. Finally, she looked at me again. "And it's fine to be thinking so much about moving. Why, when I moved to this town when you were just a toddler, I had jitters like you wouldn't believe! I was excited, nervous…but moving into Mugenhoshi changed life for the better for us. It was so exhilarating once we finally got settled in and had a chance to meet our neighbors."

I couldn't help but smile when Haruo exaggeratedly cleared his throat.

"Besides, this new town may be a bit far, but it's easily accessible by train. So I'll always get to travel to see my little baby," Mom gushed, wrapping me in a bear hug until I couldn't breathe and Haruo was laughing his head off.

She finally let go of me, but then she became slightly more serious, placing her hands on each of my shoulders. "And remember, Ritsu. No matter how far you travel, we'll always be there for you. No matter what, ok?"

I nodded, leaning onto her shoulder and snuggling into her arms, more comfortably this time.

Haruo spoke, causing me to lift my head to look at him. "Hey. I can even come with you to the station tomorrow if you want."

"Sure," I replied. Then, "That would be really nice. Thanks," after a moment of thought.

I swore I could feel him smiling even when I shut my eyes.

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><p>I rummaged through my drawers in a near frenzy, swearing under my breath a couple of times as I tore through old clothes and threw them over my shoulder without much thought to it, though it was going to be a pain to clean later.<p>

"Where? Where? No, not this…no. It should be…" Continuing to mumble, I absently considered dumping the drawer out before going back to digging.

I was so busy searching that I didn't notice Haruo walk in until he spoke to me. "Care to explain why it looks like you tossed the inside of a boutique into a cannon?"

"I'm packing," I replied, ignoring the wisecrack from him as I pulled out another dress from my drawer. _Nope. Keep searching_. I sighed and cast it over my shoulder.

"Uh…Ritsu?"

"Hm?"

"I think the clothes are supposed to go _in_ the suitcase."

This time I was careful to hit Haruo when I tossed the next shirt behind me.

"Very funny," I fired back, moving on to the next drawer. "I'm looking for my lotus tank dress."

"Is it that important to you? Like, this important?" I looked back once to see him gesturing at the messy floor.

"I really like that dress. I want to take it so I can wear it in the new town," I explained.

"That's great and all," Haruo said, "but I don't think it's really worth making your room look like the center of World War Tee."

I looked over my shoulder and shot him a slight glare.

"At least not right now…"

"Enough with the jokes. Please." I finally turned around to face him, running a hand through my hair. "Look, are you here to help me pack, or-"

Haruo nodded. "Sure. And I'll help you find your dress. Then we can work on this train wreck-"

"_Haruo_!" I cried.

"Sorry." He scratched the back of his neck, then leaned down and picked up a piece of clothing, inspecting it for a moment before throwing it straight into my suitcase.

I shrugged, then turned back around and stared at the mess of open drawers in front of me.

I felt a presence beside me not a moment later and looked to see Haruo digging through the clothes intently, so I took it as a sort of cue to continue. I let my mind wander, remembering the photo of Hakage, then mulling over some info about the Able Sisters that I'd read. The duo, Mable and Sable, had taken over the shop for their late parents while Labelle, the third sister, had strayed from life in the shop; there was a whole other story behind th-

"Aha!" Jerked from my idle train of thought, I watched as Haruo suddenly pulled my lotus tank dress out of a pile of clothes still in the dresser. "See, was that so hard?"

I huffed.

"Okay, now let's move on to the rest of the packing."

I simply nodded as I stood back up and strode across the messy room. "I think I'm ready to tackle that."

Haruo grinned, shooting a victory fist into the air. "Let's do this."

Hoisting my suitcase onto the bed, I turned back around. "Remember, we also need to head to the store and get some boxes for furniture after lunch. Then this all needs to be done by tomorrow afternoon."

"Got it," Haruo said absently, suddenly lifting the dresser off of the ground and stuffing it into his pockets once the item shrunk down.

What.

"This-" he patted his back pocket. "-is going in a box, so." He rubbed his hands together. "Now that the _contained_ clothes are out of the way, let's just pick up the floor."

"Right."

"...Ritsu, one more thing..."

"Hm?"

"Can everything we pick up go in my pockets, too?"

I only snickered.

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><p><strong>And there you have it. It gets more exciting after this, I promise. Not right away, but it will over the next couple chapters.<strong>


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